2015 Top Plant: Phoenix Contact USA

Phoenix Contact USA is a manufacturing success story.

Bob Vavra

12/14/2015

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It has been celebrated in song and film and by a statue on Liberty Island in New York Harbor. The idea of coming to America is portrayed as almost a magical event, as if simply touching foot in the United States is the solution to all problems. We all know it's not that simple.

America is the land of opportunity for those from around the world who come to these shores. What you do with that opportunity is what we truly measure. We know it is not as simple as showing up. You have to work to succeed.

It also is a tenet of America that you can come here and be an American, in all that implies, without ever forfeiting your heritage. You can celebrate where you are and simultaneously be proud of where you came from. That is more than an American dream. It is an American promise.

Phoenix Contact is a German-based company, founded in Essen nearly 100 years ago. The company is credited with helping develop the first modular terminal block. It has continued to innovate throughout its history, and in the 1980s began global expansion, including expansion to the United States in 1981.

What began as sales and marketing only in the U.S. expanded to manufacturing assembly, and later full manufacturing capabilities for Phoenix Contact. In its home in Middleton, Pa., just outside of the state capital of Harrisburg, Phoenix Contact has grown and developed not just the manufacturing it brought with it from Germany, but also new manufacturing that serves the global market while staying close to its North American customers. It is now an exporter of automation technology back to Germany.

Even as a subsidiary of a $2 billion global company, Phoenix Contact USA has built a formidable reputation as a manufacturer in its own right. It now employs more than 500 people in Middletown and continues to look for new ways to deliver customer value—and to continue its phenomenal growth.

By seeing the value of coming to America, Phoenix Contact took the first step toward success on these shores. Through hard work, innovation, and persistence, Phoenix Contact became a United States manufacturer with a proud German heritage. Phoenix Contact is a German success story. It is an American success story. It is a manufacturing success story.

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Before the calendar turned, 2016 already had the makings of a pivotal year for manufacturing, and for the world.

There were the big events for the year, including the United States as Partner Country at Hannover Messe in April and the 2016 International Manufacturing Technology Show in Chicago in September. There's also the matter of the U.S. presidential elections in November, which promise to shape policy in manufacturing for years to come.

But the year started with global economic turmoil, as a slowdown in Chinese manufacturing triggered a worldwide stock hiccup that sent values plummeting. The continued plunge in world oil prices has resulted in a slowdown in exploration and, by extension, the manufacture of exploration equipment.